Security Architect

Contract Security Engineer

Position is 100% remote within the United States. No South Carolina residency required. Open to nationwide candidates; must be able to work eastern time zone hours. All travel-related costs for onsite work will be the responsibility of the resource, regardless of the frequency of onsite work.

This position will participate in a monthly on-call rotation supporting the 24x7 SOC. After-hours maintenance, incident escalation support and operational handoffs may be required as needed. All work must be performed within the contiguous United States. Preference will be given to local South Carolina-based candidates capable of fielding services in-state. Core hours of 0830–0500 ET.

Mandatory Screening Requirements:

• 7-year standard background check
• Credit history
• Driving Record (MVR)
• E-Verify
• SLED Check

Scope of the Project:

• This position will serve as a Contract Security Engineer within the Agency's Division of Information Security.
• The successful candidate will show extensive experience supporting security automation, custom tool development, identity and access management, Linux systems and a broad range of enterprise security technologies.
• This contractor will work with a large enterprise security team and assist the Security Automations Architect, Security Architects, Engineers, Analysts and Incident Responders with the design, development, implementation, integration and continuous improvement of security tools, automations, systems and services supporting multiple state agencies.

Successful Candidate:

• This contractor will be primarily focused on security engineering, automation, scripting, tool development, system integration and operational support while also providing secondary support for IAM, Linux-based security sensors, DSPM, SIEM, XDR, logging, monitoring and other evolving security technologies.
• The role requires hands-on experience supporting both security engineering and security operations, including internal applications, APIs, SDKs, dashboards, command-line tools, automations, access controls, platform troubleshooting, system administration, documentation and analyst enablement.
• The candidate must be able to support strategic planning, solution design, development, implementation, troubleshooting, performance optimization and continuous improvement of secure systems and services in a rapidly changing environment.

Other:

• This position is 100% remote and will participate in an on-call rotation supporting the 24x7 SOC.
• After-hours maintenance, incident escalation support and operational handoffs will be required as needed.
• Preference will be shown for candidates presently residing inside the state of South Carolina that can physically assist with equipment and hardware maintenance as needed.

Daily Duties / Responsibilities:

This position is 100% remote and will participate in an on-call rotation supporting a 24x7 Security Operations Center serving multiple state agencies. Other after-hours work may be required as needed.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Python-based automations, internal web applications, APIs, SDKs, scripts, dashboards, command-line utilities and system integrations
• Automated workflows for alert enrichment, triage, incident response, case management, notifications, containment, escalation and reporting
• Custom tools to assist with CVE vetting, vulnerability enrichment, prioritization, tracking and security decision support

Secondary Responsibilities:

• Secondarily assist in the planning, design, deployment and operational support of a broad range of security platforms, including: DSPM, ASM, IAM, vulnerability management, email security, endpoint security, SIEM, XDR, SOAR, logging, monitoring, network security, cloud security and threat intelligence technologies integrations with ticketing, case management, notification, identity, data sources, APIs, SDKs and other enterprise systems as needed. Support for technologies such as Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint, Tenable, Cribl, WhatsUp Gold and other current or future security products.
• Develop, test, deploy and maintain automated security workflows, applications and scripts using Python, PowerShell, Bash, REST APIs, JSON, YAML, vendor SDKs and other appropriate technologies.
• Assist with identity and access management functions, including user provisioning, deprovisioning, access reviews, role-based access control, service accounts, API credentials, authentication, authorization and identity-based system integrations.
• Deploy, configure, patch, monitor, optimize and troubleshoot Linux systems supporting security sensors, collectors, connectors, applications, containers and data-processing services, including Docker-based environments.
• Support security architects, engineers, SOC analysts, incident responders and agency customers through platform troubleshooting, automation development, system integration, technical escalation, knowledge transfer and operational handoffs.
• Monitor and report on automation health, application availability, system performance, sensor status, integration failures, API errors, vulnerability status, platform issues and other security engineering and operational metrics.
• Ensure high availability, resilience, backup, recovery, patching, lifecycle management, secure configuration and controlled change processes for security tools, Linux systems, applications, automations and supporting services.
• Collaborate with security architects, engineers, analysts, incident responders and agency stakeholders to align solutions with business goals, industry-standard frameworks, regulatory requirements and organizational risk tolerance.

Required Skills (Ranked by Importance):

• 5+ years of experience in supporting large IT environments, security systems, software development and/or system deployments.
• Broad hands-on security engineering experience supporting multiple cybersecurity technologies, systems, integrations and operational functions.
• Experience integrating enterprise technologies using APIs, SDKs, web services, structured data formats, authentication methods and vendor-supported interfaces.
• Strong experience troubleshooting complex technical issues across applications, security platforms, operating systems, networks, identity services and integrations.
• Linux system deployment, configuration, patching, scripting, service management, monitoring, troubleshooting and lifecycle management.
• Experience developing automation and response workflows using Python, PowerShell, Bash, REST APIs, JSON, YAML and vendor SDKs.
• Experience supporting IAM, DSPM, ASM, vulnerability management, email security, endpoint security, SIEM, SOAR, logging, monitoring, cloud security and other enterprise security technologies.
• Strong understanding of enterprise security architecture, incident response, networking, access control, secure software development, systems administration and industry-standard cybersecurity frameworks.

Preferred Skills (Ranked by Importance):

• Hands-on experience serving as a security engineering generalist in a large, multi-tenant, shared-services or managed-service environment.
• Hands-on Linux, Docker, security sensor, monitoring, scripting and platform administration experience.
• Experience supporting SOC analysts, security engineers, incident responders, agency customers and rapidly changing operational priorities.
• Familiarity with Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint, Tenable, Cribl, WUG or other enterprise security technologies and experience developing playbooks, runbooks, procedures and technical documentation.

Required Education:

• Bachelor's degree in an information technology, computer science, software engineering or information security related field.
• 8+ years of relevant work experience (experience may be substituted in lieu of education).

Preferred Certifications:

• CISSP, Security+, GIAC or other relevant cybersecurity certification.
• Linux, Python, cloud, IAM or other relevant security engineering or platform certification.

Additional Skills/Duties:

• Experience developing or supporting internal web applications, APIs, dashboards, databases, command-line tools and related software components.
• Advanced Python development experience and familiarity with full-stack development, internal web applications, APIs, databases, source control, testing and software deployment practices.